Album Review: The Genius "Words From The Genius"

This is a first a series of articles I'll be writing this week about one of my all-time favorite MCs, The Genius a.k.a The GZA. He'll be performing live at First Avenue (w/Killer Mike) on 9.2o.12 performing "Liquid Swords" Live! RSVP NOW! He's also working on a new set of albums dedicated to different scientific theories, starting with "Dark Matter"...the legend of the Genius continues...

By the time 1991 arrived I had been MCing for 11 years. In
that time I picked up select lessons from various MCs who inspired me that I
was able to morph into something of my own; Kool G Rap, Kool Keith, & KRS
One (innovative patterns), Mele Mel & Rakim (Visual Imagery), Crash Crew
& Fearless Four (punchlines & conceptual songs), Kool Moe Dee & Kool G Rap (Metaphors),
etc… Although I learned those techniques through those various MCs and many
others, I never tried to be like them. In most all cases, despite all of their
talent and specific strengths, I saw some sort of drawback and/or flaw in their
approach. The Genius was the first MC I can recall, in a post-Old School era
that I felt was largely in possession of every key MC ingredient to be
commercially, as well as artistically successful.

Don’t get me wrong his debut album “Words From The Genius”
is by no means flawless. I really only listen to about 7 of the 15 tracks
regularly and that was the case even when it originally dropped. Though, truth
be told, 7 solid tracks out of 15 is an unfortunately pretty good average by
most Rap album standards.

Regardless, his talent was clearly recognizable and his
potential was highly foreseeable. His voice was excellent. His delivery was
crisp, even when he sped up the flow for effect the words were distinctly
articulated. His writing was rigid and enlightening. Even his approach was
unique. I was fascinated at the way he pronounced many of his words
differently, which gave him this extra touch of elegance. The AD campaign for
his album in The Source Magazine referenced his Freestyle Battle skills.
Essentially, The Genius was an all-around perfect MC.

Luckily, I didn’t apply the same treatment to him as I did
his cousin… I first heard the RZA with his Prince Rakeem release on Tommy Boy
titled “Ooh, I Love You Rakeem”, the same year as “Words From The Genius”, I
admit when I saw the “Ooh, I Love Your Rakeem” Music Video I got so angry I
almost got up and punched my TV…ha*. I was just frustrated that myself and
other people I knew weren’t getting record deals and that type of Rap was
continually popping up and seemed to be taking over. Of course, I didn’t
understand the business at the time and all too often the only way these MCs
could even get a record deal was to make at least one song like that. The
Genius dabbled in this as well… “Come Do Me” was the first single and video from the album.
I can’t remember if I saw the video before I brought the album. If I did then you can pretty much guarantee that I hated it. That mattered little though, because
when I saw the album cover, with him writing, what I presume are rhymes, in the
many volumes of his “Words From A Genius” books, I was instantly intrigued.
Flipping the tape over revealed song titles like “True Fresh MC”, “Feel The
Pain”, “Who’s Your Rhymin’ Hero”, “Those Were The Days” and the title track,
which were more than enough to peak my interest to make the purchase.

I was living in Atlanta, GA when this album dropped and I
brought the tape at the Greenbriar Mall. I went to my car and popped it in and
sat in the parking lot and listened to through at least all of Side A.
Unsurprisingly, but foolishly they chose to start the album off with “Come Do
Me”. I think I actually let the song ride all the way through because I had
discovered that the inside credits contained the albums lyrics, so while there
was crooning and New Jack Swinging in the background, I was preparing myself
from the lyricism that was soon to come.

The album’s production comes from three names who would each
later become more well known; “Come Do Me” is produced by Jesse West. Three
tracks are credited to Patrick Harvey (who is better know as the LG Experience).
The remainder of the album production is provided courtesy of the extremely
talented and under-appreciated hands of Easy Moe Bee. Easy Moe Bee is also the
producer behind half of the aforementioned Prince Rakeem single. Although the
production found on these projects is not clearly indicative of the Wu-Tang
sound, you can hear some traces in songs like “Genius Is Slammin”, “Drama”,
“Words From A Genius”, and “Stop The Nonsense”, some of those songs or
samples were revisited by RZA later in his career.

Right away one of the most noticeable things about this
album is the sequencing. If you simply move “Come Do Me” from the first song to
the last song on the album you have a conceptual sequencing at work. Tracks
#2-#8 are the battle rhyme tracks (“7” in a row…coincidence?? Perhaps not…). Tracks
#9-#12 are the Street Tales/Conscious tracks that cover poverty, stray bullets,
crime, and mostly drugs, in one context or another. Tracks #13-#15 are girl
related stories, a.k.a my least favorite part of the album.

For me, most all of the finest moments of the album are in
that #2-#8 string of songs. Within
there are many lyrical treasures. On “True Fresh MC” he expounds on his
conscious side and takes a slight jab at some forms of organized religion, “I
work real hard to achieve my goal/From building and bringing out my true inner
soul/Which was once on a downfall and then uplifted/So why live foul when
you’re talented and gifted/I’ve changed, rearranged my total
direction/Searchin’ for happiness, seeking for perfection/Living the true life,
a real story/To make you realize the truth, not scream Glory/Glory, hallelujah,
not here to fool ya/ But replenish your souls as I school ya.” He also sneaks
in a hidden meaning that previously slid by me that was later reinterpreted a
few different ways by members of the Wu-Tang Clanand affiliates (IE Gravediggaz), “Purified Education Always
Correcting Errors”…an acronym for P.E.A.C.E.

“The Genius Is Slammin” is probably the best combination of lethal battle rhymes and creative
production. Easy Moe Bee’s sampled reworking of The Meters, with a seamless
blend of Booker T and The MGs, is pretty fantastic. The verbal highlight takes
place in the second verse as The Genius exhibits some additional expert
wordplay through the use of clever multi-syllables and breaking down words into
bits, “And it’s critical, A crying shame/How MCs’s challenge me and die in
vein/But should’ve came with your whole Rap CommUNITY, Now where’s your
UNITY/What I see right now is you and I (U-N-I)/And you’re to weak to stop me
from doing my/Damage…”

“Word From A Genius” is one of the highlights of his verbal
graphic depictions, with gems such as the following:

-“Dancers on the stage like Alvin Ailey/while I’m deep into
the roots like Alex Haley”

-“Lyrics that break the laws of gravity/So sweet to biters
it gives them cavities/And cant’ be healed with the strongest toothpaste/So
keep biting to see how the truth taste!"”**

He also taunts the competition with, “You couldn’t even bust
a grape with spike boots on!” and suggests that the biting MCs hear his lyrics
and, “…react like an infant responds to Simulac”.

“Who’s Your Rhymin’ Hero” is the least strongest moment in the
seven song collection. It’s also the only one not produced by Easy Moe Bee and
the only song on the album besides “Superfreak” that doesn’t have the lyrics
included. It’s not a bad track by any means. It’s just not as potent as the
others. The most redeeming quality of the song might be his emphasis on style
and word pronunciation. It’s probably the single best example of his
distinguished usage that I mentioned earlier.

“Feel The Pain” focuses primarily on his swift style, which
is accented by the slow moving track, that is hard-hitting, but also melodic.
The second verse touches on the origins of the All In Together crew, that would
evolve into Wu-Tang, “I rock on and on past the break of dawn/Ask Rakeem,
Unique Ason, or even Melquan”.Rakeem is of course The RZA. Unique Ason is Ol’
Dirty Bastard. Melquan was the then manager for The Genius and Rakeem. He was also
the manager for Divine Force and Sir Ibu, as well as president of Yamak-ka
Records. Also, possibly as a forthcoming, The Genius even breaks his name down
in the rhyme as, “The Gigga, The Gigga, The Genius…” which could be the roots
of the name The GZA.

Although Side A might be the best display of his MC skills,
Side B contains the best evidence of where he would take his writing with
Wu-Tang and particularly on “Liquid Swords”. Before we get directly into that
Side B begins with “Those Were The Days”. The Genius reminisces on the early
days of developing his rhyme skills. In the first verse he outlines his Junior
High Years when, “For a 8th Grader my style was kinda fly.” He utilizes
imaginative means of manipulating standard school supplies into Hip Hop tools,
“Letting off many styles of Hip Hop/Holding the mic that I made in wood
shop/Forget gold, my key chain was a cable/Two math textbooks were turntables/For
a mixer? Something much cooler/A penny being cross-faded on a ruler/Measuring
dope beats that were flexed/From hands that played a drum roll on a desk…” I
don’t know if those are real memories, but whether it was his inventiveness in
school or in rhyme writing, I’m equally impressed. I would like to see his wood
shop made microphone though…

“Life A Drug Dealer” is a concept he revisited on “Liquid
Swords”. Lyrically, they two tracks are pretty much the same. The difference is
that the “Liquid Swords” version is more grimy and gritty. Both “Stop The
Nonsense” and “Living Foul” continue the discussion on the effects of drugs in
the community. “Drama” also takes a similar approach, but conceptually is the
best of the four tracks. In the first verse, The Genius engages in a
conversation with a young neighborhood kid who’s intelligent, but still
contemplating a life of crime in order to escape his environment. The second
verse deals with the issue of homelessness. It’s sensitive to the predicament
but also challenging at the same time.

The last three tracks focus on one of The Genius finest qualities,
storytelling, but don’t really maximize the opportunity and focuses on tales of
drinking, sex, and girl chasing.

“Words From The Genius” is an album that was relatively
overlooked when it released. The obvious reasons being that most hardcore Rap
fans didn’t bother because their first peek at the album was the R&B Smooth
“Come Do Me”. Yet, “Come Do Me” was not a big enough success on its own to
translate into album sales of any notable amount. Plus, one has to consider
that Cold Chillin’ was not really great at making stars. They had amazing
A&R skills, but the only real success stories, from a commercial standpoint
are Big Daddy Kane and Biz Markie. In an interview with me, as well as famously
in “Protect The Neck”, The Genius shared his challenges in being signed to Cold
Chillin’, but also expressed appreciation for the opportunities that experience
did provide.

Although not a commercial success and not even as solid of
an underground album as it could have been due to label pressure, when you step
back and look at “Words From The Genius” it’s clear that The Genius was in
possession of a mass amount of raw talent as an artist. At the same time, from
a purely MC angle, The Genius had undeniably refined the skills that he had
been honing since the late 70s while he waited approximately 12 years to
release a debut album. Unfortunately, the industry didn’t take note. After
“Words From The Genius” the only sensible option was to go underground, build
with his Clan and take matters in their own hands…

Written By Kevin Beacham

-Editors Notes:

*My “anger” at Prince Rakeem led to me ignoring his 12” and
missing out on the great B-side track “5 Deadly Venoms”. It’s probably a safe
guess that had he done a full album with Tommy Boy it would have had more raw
joints and would have been a great precursor to the Wu-Tang sound, probably
even more so than “Words From The Genius”. Oh yeah, The Genius also told me the
he got the initial lyrical idea for “Come Do Me” from the RZA also, so I can
blame him for that too…ha. But, I got major love for the RZA! Just saying… :)

**I’m pretty sure that The Genius told me that line was
given to him by the RZA and it was always one of my favorite lines on the album.